Turkey's highest court began considering on Monday whether to shut down the governing AK Party for Islamist activities against a background of tension following two bomb attacks in Istanbul over the weekend. The blasts killed 17 people and wounded more than 150 on Sunday hours before the Constitutional Court was set to look at the case.
Five of the dead were children, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said. "We have been fighting terror for 30 to 35 years. This fight will continue until we win it," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told residents at the site of the blasts in a working-class neighbourhood on the European side of Istanbul.
"Today is a day for unity," Erdogan said. In the emotionally charged aftermath of the bombings, the Constitutional Court began examining whether the AK Party had engaged in Islamist activities and should be closed. The party denies the charges and a ruling is expected in early August.
The court case is linked to a long-running power struggle between Turkey's secularist establishment and the Islamist-rooted AK Party, which are at odds over the direction of the officially secular but predominantly Muslim country.
"Our problem is not whether or not the AK Party will be closed. Our problem at the moment is to keep our unity so our country will go in a different direction," Erdogan said. No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks, the deadliest in Turkey since 2003. But police were increasingly looking at the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Armed forces chief General Yasar Buyukanit said in a statement: "The attacks, which were staged in a crowded street at a busy hour and without discriminating between men and women, young, old and children, showed once again the gory face, ruthlessness and despair of terrorism."
Governor Guler said there were signs of links to the PKK separatist group but pro-PKK websites reported it as condemning the attacks and denying any involvement. Newspapers said three people had been detained. The AK Party is hugely popular in the relatively conservative area and Erdogan received a warm welcome from residents. Later 5,000 mourners, including Erdogan and several ministers, attended a funeral for 10 of the blast victims.
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